Greene Central finally strikes

By Keith Spence / Correspondent

Published: Saturday, October 19, 2013 at 02:57 AM.

“We started three linemen up from the junior varsity squad and only dressed 20 players because of injury,” Sutton said. “Despite having a depleted roster, we played hard and didn’t give in. Right now, because of injuries, we’ve just got too many young players who are still trying to adjust mentally and physically to the speed of the game on the varsity level.”

The Hawks return to home next Friday to host rival South Lenoir, while Greene Central travels to Kinston to face the Vikings.

After last week’s stomach-churning loss at Ayden-Grifton, the Rams made sure no forces outside of their control played a role in the outcome of their homecoming contest against North Lenoir.

GC reached the end zone on all six of its first-half possessions and cruised to a decisive 48-8 victory over the short-handed Hawks, snapping a 16-game losing streak in the process.

The Rams’ last win also came at the expense of NL— a 21-19 victory in last year’s season opener.

“It feels great,” said first-year GC coach Allen Wooten. “We’ve come close and we’ve deserved better. These kids never stopped fighting and tonight they finally got to enjoy the results of their hard work. There are a lot of smiling faces in that locker room.”

Any questions as to the Rams’ mindset after last week’s demoralizing defeat were quickly answered.

GC’s Curtez Braswell raced 61 yards for a touchdown on the game’s fourth play. After a NL punt, the Rams needed just three plays to go 87 yards, building a quick 14-0 lead.

“All week we practiced with a purpose,” Wooten said. “I could see it in the team’s eyes on Monday that we were going to be okay. These kids deserve all the credit for the way they put the Ayden-Grifton loss behind them and channeled their disappointment and frustration into beating North Lenoir.”

That pent-up disappointment and frustration really showed itself in the second quarter. Four times the Rams got the ball, four times they scored touchdowns.

Leading 21-0, they stuffed NL quarterback Landon Baker for no gain on fourth-and-inches from the Hawks 30.

Greene Central also took advantage of a shanked punt to start another possession at the NL 14.

The Rams’ final scoring drive of the first half covered just 40 yards after Baker was sacked on a fourth-and-7 play.

“I don’t know if we’re capable of playing a better half of football,” said Wooten, whose team carried a 41-0 advantage into intermission. “Offensively we were just about perfect and defensively we only let them cross midfield once. I couldn’t have been more pleased with our effort.”

GC (1-7, 1-1 Eastern Carolina 2A) rolled up 324 yards of total offense in the first compared to just 98 for the Hawks.

And speaking of perfect, GC quarterback Austin Batchelor completed all six of his passes in the first 24 minutes for 133 yards and 2 TDs.

The senior signal caller added another scoring pass in the third quarter to finish 8-of-9 through the air for 167 yards.

Braswell caught one pass for 26 yards and proved especially devastating running the jet sweep. In addition to his 61-yard TD run in the first quarter, Braswell set up another score with a 47-yard explosion and ended up with 120 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just eight carries.

Greene Central’s Shyheem Carmon, Brandon Belcher, and Michael Mitchell, who caught five passes for 71 yards, all hauled in touchdown passes from Batchelor in the contest.

North Lenoir (1-7, 0-2) trailed 48-0 before finally lighting up the scoreboard on Donyae Hopkins’ 23-yard dash on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Hopkins accounted for the majority of the Hawks’ offense with a workmanlike 135 yards on 27 carries.

Despite the rout, NL coach Calvin Sutton was able to find a silver lining in his team’s performance.

“We started three linemen up from the junior varsity squad and only dressed 20 players because of injury,” Sutton said. “Despite having a depleted roster, we played hard and didn’t give in. Right now, because of injuries, we’ve just got too many young players who are still trying to adjust mentally and physically to the speed of the game on the varsity level.”

The Hawks return to home next Friday to host rival South Lenoir, while Greene Central travels to Kinston to face the Vikings.